Israel's TGs, Gays, Begin To Get More Visible
By Elesabeth Eaves Reuters
Contributed by Name
Tel Aviv
July 1, 1998
Orthodox Jews in traditional black
averted their eyes as sequin-clad drag queens, dancing lesbians
and bare-chested men gyrated down the streets of Tel Aviv in
Israel's first Gay Pride parade.
An exuberant crowd of more than 2,000 followed, waving
rainbow flags and cheering when the hit song "Diva" by the
transsexual Israeli singer Dana International boomed from
loudspeakers. The gay community in Israel is taking center
stage, demanding attention and equal rights.
"We've reached critical mass. People are coming out of the
closet at a much quicker rate than before," said 25-year-old
Jared Goldfarb, who attended the June 26 parade carrying a sign
reading "Gay, religious and proud."
Goldfarb said he was grateful the parade was in the
afternoon so he could make it home in time for the Jewish
Sabbath, which begins at sundown on Fridays.
Even in Jerusalem, home of Israel's largest concentration of
ultra-Orthodox Jews, the gay community is speaking up. This year
student organizers threw the second annual gay pride party, but
it was held indoors and drew only about 200 people.
"I can't have anything in a park, or anywhere outdoors.
People live in the closet here," party organizer Sa'ar
Nathaniel complained. Hebrew University's gay and lesbian
student association, which he chairs, received threatening
messages on its answering machine prior to the event.
A few hours before the party, Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Haim
Miller said on television that homosexuals were "loathsome"
and "everything must be done so they won't be seen in our homes
or around our yards."
Watching from the sidelines of the Tel Aviv parade, Amit
Schneider, a heterosexual who fears the power of Israel's
religious right, said: "I don't want to live in a country that
puts limits on how people choose to live their lives."
LIFE AFTER DANA
For Israel's gay community, Dana International's victory in
May's Eurovision song contest -- an annual event best known for
rocketing the Swedish group Abba to international stardom -- was
a turning point.
"It is different for us after Dana," said drag queen Mina
De La Chorba, repairing a false eyelash before performing at the
Jerusalem pride party.
"When Israelis celebrated Dana's victory in the streets of
Tel Aviv, people started to recognize that there is a big gay
community," echoed Nathaniel.
Less than a month after Eurovision the gay community was in
the spotlight again when it clashed with police at Wigstock, a
Tel Aviv show featuring musical groups and drag artists.
Mainstreets were blocked by protesters for two hours after
police, wearing latex gloves for fear of AIDS, tried to close
the show an hour before organizers said their permit was due to
expire.
Nathaniel calls the standoff Israel's "Stonewall," a
reference to a 1969 riot in New York's Greenwich Village in
which patrons of Stonewall, a gay bar, clashed with police
trying to shut it down. The incident was a turning point for gay
rights in the United States.
"The biggest struggle is the struggle for visibility. Now
any candidate who wants to be elected mayor will not be able to
ignore the gay and lesbian community," said Nathaniel.
ISRAEL LAWS TAKE LIBERAL LINE ON HOMOSEXUALITY
Israeli laws on homosexuality seem progressive compared to
the United States, where only nine states have banned
discrimination based on sexual orientation and some still
consider sodomy illegal, Israeli gay activists say.
Israel decriminalized homosexuality in 1988 and prohibited
workplace discrimination in 1992. A 1993 army policy
allows openly homosexual soldiers to serve in any capacity.
There is no civil marriage in Israel, even for heterosexual
couples, but the Supreme Court and the military have recognized
same-sex domestic partners as eligible for spousal benefits.
Dan Yakir, a lawyer for the Association for Civil Rights in
Israel, believes legal successes for homosexuals and growing
media attention have meant increasing opposition from Orthodox
Jews, whose political parties are key players in the coalition
government.
"The religious voice didn't play a significant role so long
as the gay and lesbian community wasn't so visible," he said.
Following Dana International's win, Deputy Health Minister
Rabbi Shlomo Benizri of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party called
transsexualism a "sickness."
But Member of Parliament Yael Dayan, daughter of the late
war hero Moshe Dayan, has championed gay and lesbian causes,
including a failed 1995 attempt to legislate equal status for
homosexual couples. "I see it as all a part of human rights,"
she told Reuters.
Although he appreciates Dayan's work, De La Chorba believes
the gay community would benefit even more from an openly
homosexual member of parliament. "We don't really have someone
to represent us. Dayan has done a lot but she's straight. I
believe someone who is gay would be much more sensitive to the
things that we need," he said.
In fact, Tel Aviv may soon have a gay politician. Michal
Eden, running in the left-wing Meretz party's primary for
municipal elections, will be Israel's first openly homosexual
elected official if she wins a council seat.
But many homosexuals still do not feel comfortable living in
Jerusalem. "It's much easier for me in Tel Aviv, both as a gay
person and a secular person," said Nathaniel, who plans to move
there as soon as he graduates.
Dana, a lesbian graduate student at Hebrew University, also
plans to move to Tel Aviv when she finishes her studies. "There
is no active community life here -- only support groups and help
lines," she said of Jerusalem.
Tel Aviv already has a handful of gay bars and restaurants.
Minerva, the city's first establishment catering mainly to
lesbians, opened recently.
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